Fabulous made easy

Kat Von D Autograph Eyeliner and Benefit Play Sticks

You get what you pay for. And for the past little while I’ve been having a real bitch of a time covering up an irritated trouble spot on my face, a result of resting my hand there in my sleep. So this is why I decided it was time to step up my game and take a trip down to Sephora for some of the good stuff.
Sephora is like a little piece of heaven for makeup addicts. A very, very expensive little piece of heaven. The average item I looked at cost about 40$ as opposed to the usual drug store price of 13$.

The first thing I looked at of course was concealer. The sales girl first recommended Boi-ing by Benefit. My only real issue was that it came in a pot, and I prefer the cleanest possible application, something that requires minimal use of your fingers. So I started poking around a bit and eventually landed on Play Sticks, a cream to powder stick foundation. I’ve used this style of foundation before in a drug store brand, and I loved it. I also figured that since this was a high end brand, even a foundation would hide things better than my still-pretty-good drug store concealer. It would do the job of 3 things – foundation, concealer, and powder – so it would be a better deal and leave me with less junk on my face.
I was right. This makeup feels non-existent, and covers almost flawlessly with no effort at all. My skin hasn’t looked this good since I was 12. And contrary to what some others have found, on me this lasted ALL day. The only real drawback here is that there are a surprisingly limited number of shades, and I was worried that like many other foundations this one would end up looking weird and orange-y on me. When I first swiped it on it almost did. But while it’s still not a perfect match, it does blend quite well. As long as I remember to put it all over so I don’t have any weird white-ish patches, it looks quite seamless. If you’re considering buying this and the shades are holding you back, I urge you to test it out before making a decision.

After thoroughly boring Mike to within an inch of his life, I also walked out with Kat Von D’s Autograph eyeliner. This was more of an impulse buy, even though the Revlon liner I was using really had been bugging me. It smeared, smudged, faded, and wouldn’t go on evenly. It looked like crap from the get go. Its only real good point was that it had a felt tip, making application virtually idiot-proof. I had seen video reviews for the Kat Von D liner before, but let me tell you, they did not do justice to just how dramatic and precise this looks in person. The color payoff is amazing – this is the blackest black that was ever black. And while it doesn’t stay perfect all day, it comes pretty damn close when you leave it alone. Fading in particular is nil. Speaking of which, the negative? It’s incredibly UNwaterproof. It takes some time to dry – about a minute – and even then smudging is a bit of a risk if you rub your eyes or they start to water. And definitely don’t forget your umbrella if it rains.
So consider me sold. When I can afford it, I’m buying the good stuff, one or two products at a time.